Manufacturing Laboratory-I (ME207) Report

Date of submission: 23/08/2021 Name: Md Athar Hassan

Group: G10 Entry No: 2019MEB1278

Experiment No -01
Experiment title
Heat treatment of Mild Steel and SAE 1040 Steel Specimen.

Objective of the Experiment

 To have a better understanding of the various heat treatment processes.
 Perform a specified amount of cold work and examine the effects of various heat
treatment processes on material mechanical properties.
 The following heat treatment will be carried out: Annealing, Normalizing, Tempering
and Quenching.
 Hardness measurement demonstration.

Material and apparatus used in the Experiment

 Mild Steel (% of C<= 0.3) and SAE 1040 Steel Specimen
 Muffle Furnace(for heating the specimen)
 File ,polisher(to polish the specimen)
 Chop Saw machine( to cut the specimen)
 Anvil and hammer(for cold working) and other common tools.

Experimental procedure
For Mild Steel Specimen
 Firstly we cut the six samples of mild steel with the help for Chop saw machine, one
for base sample, one for annealing, two for normalizing(one for soaking time 30 min
and other for 60 min), two for quenching(one for soaking time 30 min and other for 60
min).
 Then we performed cold work operation with the help of anvil and hammer(20% cold
work).
 And after cold work we performed different process of heat treatment(like annealing,
normalizing, quenching)

 For Annealing
 Close the door and keep the Specimen inside the furnace.
 Turn on the furnace and adjust the temperature control knob to the desired setting
(9500C).
 For soaking time 30 minutes, the specimen was kept in the furnace.
 The furnace is turned off, and the specimen is progressively cooled inside it.
 Measure the Rockwell hardness of the specimen when it has reached room
temperature and note it in the observation table.

 For Normalizing
 Close the door and keep the Specimen inside the furnace.
 Turn on the furnace and adjust the temperature control knob to the desired setting
(9500C).
 For soaking time 30 minutes, the specimen was kept in the furnace.
 The sample was kept to cool in open air.
 Clean the specimen with abrasive paper after it has reached room temperature.
 Take a measurement of the hardness and write it down on the observation table.

 For Quenching
 Close the door and keep the Specimen inside the furnace.
 Turn on the furnace and adjust the temperature control knob to the desired setting
(9500C).
 For soaking time 30 minutes, the specimen was kept in the furnace.
 The specimen is quenched in cold water and allowed to cool quickly.
 To remove the fins or scales that have adhered to the surface, dry the specimen with
a piece of cloth and abrasive paper.
 Take a measurement of the hardness and write it down on the observation table.

For SAE 1040 Steel Specimen

 Firstly we cut the five samples from SAE 1040 Steel Specimen with the help of chop
saw machine , one for base samples, one for annealing, one for quenching, one for
tempering, and last for normalizing.
 Then we kept all the five samples in the muffle furnace and adjust the temperature
control knob to the desired setting (9000C) for soaking time 45 min.
 For annealing we leave the sample inside the furnace to cool down.
 For Quenching the specimen is quenched in cold water and allowed to cool quickly.
 For tempering the sample in quenched in cold water and again kept in the furnace
adjust the temperature control knob to the desired setting (4000C), for soaking time
30min. Then it was removed from the furnace and allowed to cool outside in an open
air.
 For normalizing the sample was kept to cool in open air.
 And finally polish all the samples, and measure the Rockwell hardness of the
specimen and note down it in the observation table.

Results and discussion

For Mild Steel Specimen

Sample Cold Heating Soaking Type of
Process Hardness(HRA)
No. Work Temp(0 C) Time Cooling
1 20% - - - Cold Work 70.4
2 20% 950 30 min Furnace Annealing 61.16
3 20% 950 30 min Air Normalizing 55.18
4 20% 950 60 min Air Normalizing 63.36
 5 20% 950 30 min Water Quenching 56.78
6 20% 950 60 min Water Quenching 67.20

1. Cold Work(for soaking time 30 min)

70.4 67.20 2. Annealing(for soaking time 30 min)
Hardness(HRA)

61.16 63.36
55.18 56.78 3.Normalizing(for soaking time 30 min)
4.Normalizing(for soaking time 60 min)
5. Quenching (for soaking time 30 min)
6. Quenching(for soaking time 60 min)

1 2 3 4 5 6
Process of Heat treatment

 We observed the hardness value of all the heat process and found that in any heat
process when we increase the soaking time, hardness value will be decreases.

 Hardness order in increasing order-
Normalizing<Quenching<Annealing<Cold Work

For SAE 1040 Steel Specimen

Hardness Hardness
Sample Heating Soaking Type of number( number( Average
Process
No. Temp(0 C) Time Cooling Reading Reading Hardness
1) 2)
1 - - - - 15.5 15.3 15.4

2 900 45 min Furnace Annealing 13.9 14.5 14.2

3 900 45 min Water Quenching 58 73.7 65.8

45,30
4 900,400 Water,Air Tempering 27.3 47.8 37.5
min
5 900 45 min Air Normalizing 17.3 22.9 20.1

 The structure generated after the quenching process is known as martensite, which
is hard but brittle because to the quick cooling rate.
 When martensite is reheated during the tempering process, it converts into sorbite or
troostite, which results in reduced hardness and improved ductility. This is really
desired since low hardness and high toughness are advantageous for machining
because cutting forces and specific energy are reduced.
 Order of Hardness-
Quenching>Tempering>Normalizing>Cold work>Annealing
 Order of ductility-
Quenching<Tempering<Normalizing<Cold work<Annealing
 1. Cold Work

Hardness(HRA)
65.8 2. Annealing
3. Quenching
37.5 4. Tempering
15.4 14.2 20.1 5. Normalizing

1 2 3 4 5
Process of Heat treatment

Learning from the experiments

 We studied about quenching, annealing, tempering, normalising, and determining the
sample's hardness.
 We also discovered the impact of soaking time on the material's hardness.
 In this experiment, we will learn about the effects of cooling in the surface, water, and
air, as well as how the sample's properties (such as hardness, ductility, brittleness,
and toughness) would change as a result of various heat processes.

Safety concern
 Inside the workshop, your sole focus should be on executing your job safely, thus no
cell phones, music players, or other distractions are permitted.
 In the workshop, do not wear loose or flammable clothing, wear fully covered, rubber
soled shoes within the workshop instead of walking barefoot (or with slippers/sandals,
etc.).
 Do not touch the hot samples with direct hands, we must use tongs.

Question/Answers
Q1 What are the differences between HRA and HRC scales?
Ans HRA means Rockwell hardness measured on A scale.
HRC means Rockwell hardness measured on C scale.
HRA HRC
Scale A C
Load 60 kgf 150 kgf
Indenter 0
120 Diamond cone 0
120 Diamond cone
Tungsten carbide,Cemented carbides, thin
Use Harder steel, titanium, hard cast iron etc.
steel

Q2 When will you perform tempering operation? Explain with an example.

 Ans When the construction is too huge, complicated, or otherwise difficult to heat the
entire thing evenly, and when we reduce the hardness(and is done by heating the
metal to some temperature below the critical point for a certain period of time, then
allowing it to cool in still air) and increase the toughness or ductility of the specimen
then it is used this because low hardness and high toughness are advantageous for
machining because cutting forces and specific energy are reduced.